After fire, Tyson permanently closes chicken plant in Georgia

After catching fire last month, a Tyson Foods chicken plant will permanently shutter in Dawson, Ga., affecting more than 300 workers and the local economy.

In wake of the fire, Doug Ramsey, Tyson’s group president of poultry, suspended operations for weeks in to look at what it would take to salvage the plant.

“Based on a number of factors, we’ve made the difficult decision to permanently close the facility,” Ramsey said in an internal memo to employees Friday.

Jobs at other Tyson locations will be made available to the plant’s workers, according to the memo. Hourly workers will be offered jobs at a Tyson plant in Vienna, Ga., about an hour’s drive northeast of the Dawson site.

A chemical fire in April led to a plant evacuation and multiple school closings, news outlets reported. At the time, Tyson officials said they temporarily idled the plant to investigate and clean up the wreckage.